Latest News
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Galaxy on Edge |
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The magnificent galaxy NGC 4710 is tilted nearly edge-on to our view from Earth. This perspective allows astronomers to easily distinguish the central bulge of stars from its pancake-flat disk of stars, dust, and gas. What's striking in the image is a ghostly "X" pattern of stars. This natural-color photo was taken with the Hubble Space Telescope's Advanced Camera for Surveys on January 15, 2006. |
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Around The Institute
Beyond JWST:The Next Steps in UV-Optical-Near IR Astronomy
The Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA) sponsored a
workshop to engage the UV/optical/Near-IR astronomy community to discuss its long-term goals
for space-based astronomy and astrophysics. The meeting provided the UVOIR community an
opportunity to look forward on a 25-year horizon to identify the scientific opportunities enabled by
large and very large space telescopes and to outline a path forward that will form the basis
for a community-led report to the 2010 Decadal Review Committee.
Read more...
2009 May Symposium: The Search for Life in the Universe
The STScI 2009 May Symposium presented discussions of the motivations and expectations
for the search for life in the universe in three distance domains that each require
markedly different observational approaches and speakers from multiple disciplines:
detecting Life within 50 AU of Earth, detecting life within 100 pc of Earth, and
detecting life beyond 100 pc from Earth.
Read more...
Webb Telescope Approved for Development/Launch
On July 10, 2008, NASA formally approved the JWST project to move into its implementation phase. This decision followed a successful Preliminary Design
Review (PDR) in March 2008 and a Non-Advocate Review in April. While all the science instruments and the "long lead" items like the primary mirror segments
are already being manufactured, this approval marks the transition of the program into Phase C (Final Design and Fabrication). Phase D covers system
assembly, integration and testing and launch. Read more...
HLA Data Release 3.0
HLA Data Release 3 Includes New NICMOS Images,
ACS Grisms, WFPC2 Source Lists, and Prototype Mosaics.
The Hubble Legacy Archive (HLA) has entered its Data Release 3 (DR3) phase of operation. DR3 features several new products and interface upgrades. Highlights include: improved NICMOS single- and multi-exposure images; extracted spectra from ACS GRISM data; source lists for most WFPC2 visits; and a few prototype mosaics from multi-visit ACS data.
The HLA project is a collaboration between the Space Telescope Science Institute, the Space Telescope European Coordinating Facility, and the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre. Read more...
